Operations

Department Statistics • Transportation - More than 10,000 students rode the bus on a regular basis during the 2018-19 school year. The district maintained a fleet of 109 school buses and 90 support vehicles. Our buses traveled 1,159,028 total miles – 1,040,601 miles on regular routes and 118,427 miles on field trips.

The district ran 15 after-school routes and 35 shuttles, and two vehicles for the McKinney-Vento/Foster Care programs. The district purchased 172,339 gallons of diesel fuel and 42,529 gallons of unleaded fuel for a combined cost of $446,750.

• The Child Nutrition Department served 1,681,986 lunches and 993,215 breakfasts during the school year. Summer meals included 16,422 breakfasts and 25,031 lunches. The Child Nutrition department trains around 280 employees in culinary arts and safe food handling; has four chefs; and three dietitians. The number of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch has steadily increased over recent years and is currently at 69.3%.

The district purchased fresh vegetables and fruits and local grass fed beef from six local farms and six elementary schools participated in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Grant which provided fresh fruits and vegetables for snacks each day in the classroom. A pilot program at McAuliffe and Ellen Ochoa Elementary schools taught students how to reduce waste foods, as well as how to compost and recycle. The district’s two nutrition educators conducted 400 nutrition education classes, two farm-to-student events, six nutrition and activity assemblies, and participated in community nights.

A federally funded supper program was implemented in 2015-2016, feeding an afternoon meal to 200-300 High School students each school day. This year, the program expanded to include Clark Elementary. The program reduces hunger among students who otherwise might not get a good, healthy afternoon meal and encourages participation in after-school programs that tend to drive class attendance and performance.

• Child Nutrition announced a new menu marketing system available which will allow patrons to view food menus on their computer or mobile device. MealViewer is a cutting-edge digital menu system that provides many features and allows Union to showcase menus online and on digital signage at some of the secondary school sites.

The Maintenance Department was comprised of 11 technicians and 23 building engineers charged with the maintenance and minor repair of all district facilities. The maintenance department completed over 10,000 work orders and monthly preventative maintenance projects. Union employs a licensed locksmith, two plumbers, two electricians, five HVAC mechanics, and a district carpenter. Every Union facility is staffed with at least one building engineer. The district received a $96,733.41 rebate check from PSO for participating in a summer energy savings program and was honored with an award for saving the most energy.

• The Custodial Department had 104 full- and part-time custodians including 21 lead custodian supervisors. Custodial staff worked tirelessly to clean and maintain over 3,323,544 sq. ft. of building space. The custodial staff also works to help set up and tear down the myriad of events throughout the district.

The Grounds Department employs 13 district groundskeepers and a grounds coordinator. Our district groundskeepers maintain over 425 acres of property at 23 different locations. The crew also maintains elementary playground equipment, prepares playing surfaces for games and practices, performs minor asphalt and concrete repairs, removes snow during inclement weather, prepares for large event set up, and works alongside warehouse staff during large district moving projects.

The Purchasing and Supply Management Department consisted of three employees at the Education Service Center and 10 at the Distribution Center & Warehouse. The department supported the functions of purchasing and supply management: sourcing, purchasing, contracting, materials management and distribution, inventory, receiving, records management, logistics, daily interschool mail service, and disposal of surplus materials and equipment.

During 2018-2019, the department reviewed over 300 agreements, contracts and memorandums of understanding, completed 416 warehouse work orders, made 727 custodial and instructional supply deliveries, received and delivered 2,919 orders from purchase orders, made more than 700 cafeteria deliveries to school sites, hosted 368 online surplus auctions, and made over 3,960 interschool mail deliveries to school and district sites.

Procurement project highlights for the 2018-2019 year included the successful solicitation and selection of a new webpage content management provider, new commercial insurance broker, purchase of over 3,700 1-to-1 student laptops for high school students and 290 new teacher laptops, purchase of school buses and band uniforms, and the successful solicitation and award of annual child nutrition bids, including a cooperative bid with other area schools for commodity processing.

Under the direction of the Director of Purchasing and Supply Management, the Union Public Schools Uniform Guidance Procurement Plan & Procedures for Federal Programs and Child Nutrition was completed and approved by the school board. As a result of the written plan, procedures and procurement practices, the district’s first-ever child nutrition procurement audit resulted in no findings.

Safety and Security-The district employed a Director of Security and a district security coordinator, as well as 13 full-time security officers at the secondary schools and 24 part-time officers for athletic and special events. One Broken Arrow School Resource Officer was on call daily in addition to seven off-duty Tulsa Police Department officers on a rotating schedule, allowing one to patrol the district each day. Emergency procedure posters were updated and distributed to all schools.

District employees completed more than 23,537 assigned training courses and more than 3,325 unassigned safety courses on their own for a training completion rate of 87 percent. The security coordinator met with students at elementary sites weekly and performed routine safety walks at all sites, with follow-ups including the site administrator.

Phase 3, the final phase of Ellen Ochoa Elementary, was completed, which included adding 28 regular classrooms, two art classrooms, two maker spaces, two outdoor classrooms, the “learning stairs,” a second media center; collaboration spaces; and a 16-foot indoor slide.

Remodeling of the High School PAC lobby and restrooms were completed, as well as the installation of a new sound system.

In preparation for the new stadium, the relocation of utilities, water, sewer, gas, electrical, storm water, and communication was started.

New interior millwork/cabinets and flooring were installed at Darnaby Elementary.

New flooring was installed at Cedar Ridge Elementary.

The Union High School Freshman Academy had a new chiller, piping, cooling tower and control equipment installed.

Playground remodels were done at Darnaby and Jefferson.

A new greenhouse was constructed at the Union Collegiate Academy.

A new 350-ton chiller and a new elevator were installed at the UMAC.

The front entrance of the Union Collegiate Academy was redesigned for enhanced safety and security.

The UMAC Athletics department received new carpeting.

Fuel island software was upgraded, along with the replacement of seals, sensors and the painting of fuel tanks.